As students of art history, it is important to understand both aspects of the subjects, the art and the history. One needs a careful eye to divine the subtle differences and changes that even primitive art has undergone to become what it is today. Masterpieces become world renowned for a myriad of different reasons. Often the art reflects valuable historical events and changes. In this class, we have looked back into the past to the very beginnings of art and how it shaped early society. For this paper, I will examine the similarities of artwork studied in class with the art that our school has on display at the Lowe art museum from the same time period. From the geometric to the classical period in pottery, there is a dramatic development of art and technique as society becomes more advanced.
There are many different types of shapes of ceramic pots which vary depending on their use and historical context. The type of pot depends on how the neck, body and foot of the vessel are constructed. In this paper, different types will be discussed, so for a brief overview: Amphoras typically have two vertical handles on the neck with a taller shape. Ollas are shorter and rounder. Kraters are more ornamental looking with the neck smaller than the body but with a wider opening at the top. They were used mainly for diluting wine with water. A lekythos only has one handle and is tall and thin.
Pottery is one of the first forms of artwork because it was useful to people in their daily life and could be used for many different purposes. The first piece of artwork was from the geometric era around 750 B.C. The example at the Lowe art museum is a ceramic pot called the Heron Class Olla. The lip, neck, foot, and most of the body just have red lines around the pot. The shoulder and body have some geometric patterns of animals. The herons go around the center of the pot and are just a basic drawing of the bird with no extra features or detail. They look like a silhouette and are all almost identical. The main horse on the shoulder is also in a similar style. The shape of the legs makes it look very graceful. The example from the geometric time shows the characteristics of simple designs repeated many times for a basic decoration. Details and stories are not commonly portrayed.
The Heron Class Olla is similar to the Geometric Period, Bronze Horse, from around the same time that was studied in class. Although the Bronze Horse is a statue rather than a painting on a pot, the shape of it highlights the aspects of the Geometric Period. The horse looks far from realistic, but the viewer can discern what it is meant to be. The legs are thin and then grow wider with a very thin waist of the horse. This is the same as the horse on the Heron Class Olla. In real life, horses have a wide girth. The necks of these horses are also wider to include the mane, but without the detail of the mane aside from the statue becoming slightly thinner. Both horses have a majestic curve to their head and movement of the legs to make them look graceful. They are both similar to cave drawings and show the primitive nature of this period.
The next period is the Orientalizing Period, and the example from the museum is the Perfume Flask. This piece was created around 600 B.C., so the progression since the geometric period is apparent. The shape of the flask is a bit more advanced and less useful. It was made to hold perfume rather than to store food or ashes. This shows how society advanced to have more luxury goods. The bird on the body of the flask has more detailed scratched into it. There are lines representing feathers, beak, and eyes. But the lip and foot of the flask are still very similar to the Geometric Period example with just lines and simple decorations.
The Perfume Flask has some features in common with the Corinth Black-Figure Pitcher. They were both made for decorative purposes, showing the advances made in society. The Corinth Black-Figure Pitcher also still has the lines around the lip and foot of the vase. It has simple repeating designs of a lion and some type of bird. The design of the feathers on both vessels was similar with small lines showing the different feathers. The animals are both used as decoration rather than to tell a story. The second vessel uses more colors to depict the bird making it slightly more detailed. Both examples show the changes from the Geometric Period while still incorporating some of the same aspects while becoming more detailed.
The next era of art was the Archaic Period during which the art started to have more of a subject rather than just for decoration. The example at the Lowe Art Museum is the Column Krater with black figures. The figures are clearly portraying Greek Gods and Goddesses, but the artwork is still very two-dimensional. The figures are outlined with lines and only consisting of one or two colors. This is not very realistic yet, but the symbols portray the messages and themes that the artwork wants to convey to the viewer. The front of the Column Krater has the main subject of Dionysus. He was the God of Wine, so it is an appropriate decoration for something used with meals and drinking. He is holding a flask and has grapes around him. In front of him is a satyr, which were known to be among his followers. The women are maenads who also were in his company. Mainly the narrative is kept to the body of the krater, which is wide, providing the most space.
On the backside of the Column Krater, another narrative scene is shown of Apollo with his horses. His sister, Artemis, and their mother are saying goodbye to him. The messenger god awaits in front of the horses to lead them on their journey. The horses take up most of the scene, making it realistic to the scale of size. These depictions are more complex than either of the examples seen so far. The pots could now be used for storytelling and conversation. The areas outside of the narratives still share similarities with the past artwork, however.
The Column Krater is similar to Dionysus and Two Satyrs which is an amphora studied in class from the same period. Both vessels continue to use the theme of mythology for the narratives. Both use Dionysus because of his relationship with food and drink. The coloring of the amphora is slightly lighter firing than the coloring of the krater, but they both use the black figure technique. Again, Dionysus can be seen holding a cup for the wine, and, at the shoulder of the pot, are a vine design which could represent the grapes for making wine. Dionysus is again with the satyrs which is a staple of this particular god. These narratives both make the gods seem very humanlike and close by. People would like to have these narratives to remind them of the gods in their homes.
The final period was the Classical Period which maybe is what the Greek art is most famous for. This is when the statues that people think of in regard to Ancient Greece were made. The height of the Greek civilization was reached through these steps taken by the previous art periods. The example at the University Museum is the Red-Figure Technique Krater which was done in about 350 B.C. The main difference is that the figures in this krater have much more movement than has been present until this time. The Greek artists are starting to study how the human body moves to make everything as realistic as possible. The krater shows Dionysus riding a white panther. He is surrounded by his usual group of creatures, the maenads. The clothing is also very different from the archaic period. The fabrics are more draped and realistic looking. However, the pot is still very two-dimensional and silhouetted. It is harder to look completely realistic with firing on pots compared to how statues and paintings could look. There are still strong similarities with the pottery artistry as with the statues we mainly studied in the course.
The Red-Figure Technique Krater is comparable to the Seated Gods and Goddesses on the east frieze of the Parthenon. Both of the figures use the wet drapery of the fabric. It shows realistic detail of the seated position which is more complex than a standing figure. The fabric is pulled in a certain way on Dionysus which is how it would be caused by sitting like that. They both wear the draping cloth that leaves part of the chest bare. It is hard to tell the gender in many classical Greek art because of the idealized features and long hair, but the bare chest indicates the figure as a God. The heads of all the figures are turned so the profile is showing. This is the best view for showing idealized, strong features of the face. The bodies of the figures are more proportioned and showing realistic movement. They hold their limbs in comfortable positions and some muscle definition can be seen. The themes of the gods is still consistent as seen during the Archaic Period.
Overall, this progression of art shows the journey of a society through a dark age steadily into a society that has given the world today so many things. All of these changes happened in a relatively short time of only a couple hundred years. Visual analysis is important to fully appreciate the art. A passerby’s eye cannot uncover what can be uncovered when looking longer and reflecting on what is shown. Comparing the examples in the Lowe Art Museum helps to further uncover insights about each time period. Seeing the artwork firsthand is an invaluable learning experience. By comparing the relics that the University has to what was studied in class, the best possible understanding of the art during this time can be achieved.